


I Surrender Myself

by NovaSaurusWrex



Category: One Piece
Genre: Blushing, Caring, F/M, Haki (One Piece), Kissing, Marco works too much, Not Actually Unrequited Love, One Piece Universe, Sneaking Up on People, Thatch bakes off-screen, bird jokes, consent is important
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:42:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27966263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NovaSaurusWrex/pseuds/NovaSaurusWrex
Summary: Sighing, he stretched his arms in the air, then placed them behind his head, leaned back in his chair, stretched his legs out in front of him, closed his eyes and allowed his mind to wander away from his duties for a moment.Which was dangerous.Because when he wasn’t thinking about something specific, like work…At least with his paperwork he had something to focus on, he was aware of what results to expect and he knew he was in complete control.But when he was thinking about her…
Relationships: Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco/Original Female Character(s), Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco/Reader
Kudos: 56





	I Surrender Myself

**Author's Note:**

> Hey folks,
> 
> So obligatory, this is not my first fan-fiction, however, it is the first one I've ever posted and the first one I've ever let anyone else read, so.... Please be nice..
> 
> So, as if approaching exams and groupprojects aren't enough, I'm currently torturing myself by rewatching Marineford, apparantly I like to make myself cry and therefore I've been in Marco hell for a few days. And then this thing was born as an obvious coping mechanism.
> 
> NOTE: I'm only up to date with One Piece up till Dressrosa, so I have no idea how much Marco is OOC.. Oh well..
> 
> Contructive criticism is welcome, I want to learn but keep uncontructive ones to yourself, please and thank you :)

The light scratching of the quill against the log’s pages could be heard throughout the cabin in the quiet evening; quiet being unusual for a crew such as this though not unheard of. Moments like these were perfect for catching up on reports and other duties that had been neglected during the day in favor of more important tasks.

As the words formed on the page, illuminated by the soft light of the candle in front of him, Marco put the quill down and took a moment to stretch his cramping fingers. He’d been at it for a couple of hours already but was nowhere near done for the night.

Sighing, he stretched his arms in the air, then placed them behind his head, leaned back in his chair, stretched his legs out in front of him, closed his eyes and allowed his mind to wander away from his duties for a moment.

Which was dangerous.

Because when he wasn’t thinking about _something specific_ , like work…

At least with his paperwork he had something to focus on, he was aware of what results to expect and he knew he was in complete control.

But when he was thinking about _her_ …

It had been a while since he’d felt this much in uncharted territory. Years in fact, literally. But after she’d joined up as a nurse about a year ago, a trauma specialist experienced in wounds sustained in combat, he would often find himself… distracted... during downtime.

It wasn’t because there was anything special about her, not really. Objectively pretty, attractive even but otherwise average in appearance and she wasn’t a Devil Fruit user. But still there was something about her that had completely captured his attention.

He liked to think he was a great judge of character; he’d have to be with the position he found himself in as 1st division commander. After all, he did have quite the extensive family to keep an eye out for.

So maybe the reason why was because he’d judged her as a genuinely good person; she truly cared about her patients, their wellbeing and worked hard with unparalleled focus on those injured; she shared from her personal stash of cookies she’d, _somehow_ , had Thatch bake and which the man had insisted was only for her; she even did that little polite chuckle-and-smile thing people do, when they don’t want the person who told an unfunny joke to feel bad, even though it really wasn’t funny.

He felt, that she had a soothing effect on him, especially after one of Thatch’s pranks that saw Marco as the victim. If she was nearby, he had a tendency to calm down faster afterwards; just being granted one of her smiles and he could chuckle at his predicament and usually, if he was in any way physically afflicted by said prank, she would help clean up or at the very least hunt down the prankster and guilt him into cleaning up his own mess, and so he could receive his due punishment.

Whenever Marco would sit next to her in the mess hall or pass her on the deck, she’d always politely give him a “Good morning” or “Hey” and have a huge, bright smile and initiate conversation.

Of course, he knew it wasn’t just for him; she was like that with everyone. But over the course of the past few months, it had begun to feel as if she smiled just a little brighter when she passed by him and she sat just a little closer in vicinity to him in the mess hall during meals.

Since she joined, they’d gotten to know each other reasonably well, well enough for him to have sparked an interest in her beyond that of the friendship they already shared. They had a similar taste in literature, both had an urge to see the world, to explore beyond the limitation of what life on land had to offer and they found support in each other in their individual responsibilities.

If only he had some sort of sign, some indication that she could be thinking along the lines he was, then he wouldn’t potentially ruin their friendship by asking her if she could be interested in more.

At least Thatch or one of the others hadn’t caught on to his infatuation – because he thought himself too old to have a _crush_ – otherwise he would never hear the damn end of it. Or worse – they’d try to help him out with his predicament and that could only end in either disaster or her being too uncomfortable to stay on the ship.

Continuing to think about her and their relationship, such as it was, wouldn’t help him finish today’s workload.

Sighing deeply, Marco opened his eyes, sat up and dragged his chair closer to the table. He picked up the quill and reread what he had already written down. Once in the right mindset again and his fingers less aching, he continued writing so he’d at least be that much closer to finishing his work and call it a day.

* * *

Even deep in thought and concentrating on his work, he felt a presence in the open doorway to his cabin. But the only indication that he even acknowledged it, was a slow creeping smirk on his face. He kept writing, waiting on the presence to make itself known.

After several minutes without so much as a noise, not even a small polite cough to attempt to catch his attention, he finally called out to her.

“If you’re waiting for the opportune moment to disturb me while working, it’s not coming any time soon”, he said lightly without turning to her, and kept writing.

She let out an airy chuckle before she pushed herself off of the doorjamb.

“Damn observation Haki”, he heard her say lowly while she walked closer to him, only succeeding in turning his smirk into a full-blown smile.

“We missed you at dinner”, she said when she reached him and when he finally graced her with a turn of his head, he saw that she had a plate of what looked like chicken, rice and some fried vegetables.

“And Thatch was even serving one of your cousins, shame on you for not attending the family reunion”, she said with a small smile, while moving some of his papers to the side with one hand and placing the plate down on the surface of the table with the other.

“Or, well… Maybe funeral would be more fitting, considering”, came the slightly amused addition to her own joke.

“Or would it be considered cannibalism among your kind?”, she asked smiling, looking him in the eyes, crossing her arms and leaning her hip on his desk.

Marco couldn’t help the half-a-second glance at her chest, when she unintentionally pushed her breasts up with her crossed arms and he quickly turned his eyes to the plate, feigning deep interest in the meal. Yep, if nothing else, his mind was definitely supplying reasons why he really should dig deep for a bigger set and just ask her; if she could ever see him as more than a friend. He just hoped that she hadn’t noticed his wandering eyes.

“Very funny”, was Marco’s response, while inwardly he cringed at the lame answer – though to be fair, his mind was simultaneously trying to formulate on how to ask her but without asking her, in case it got awkward and he could just pretend she misunderstood him.

“Hey, are you alright? You’re usually more vocal when birds and your relation to them are mentioned”, she asked with furrowed brows, looking slightly worried and placed her hand on his shoulder.

When he looked at her again and saw the expression on her face, he decided that the worst consequence of him asking her to be more than his friend, could be losing this, the caring. And that was not acceptable.

“I’m fine. I’ll eat when I’m done with this report, thanks for bringing me dinner”, he said and motioned for her to leave so he could finish.

She looked at him for at moment, as if unsure if she should insist that he tell her what was wrong. But then she gave him a small smile, retracted her hand, turned and left his cabin.

Tonight was a quiet night indeed as he watched her leave but it had also turned into one of multiple sighs. As he heaved another one, he turned back to his work, had it finished within the next 20 minutes, pushed it aside and dug into his meal.

Even though it was cold it was delicious and he contemplated whether it was actually a slight form of cannibalism to eat chicken. When he took his next bite, he decided that if it was, then he didn’t really care; it was too good.

The plate now empty, he put it on the side of his desk again as he returned to the very last of his work for tonight.

* * *

Just like earlier that evening, a presence neared his open door, but unlike earlier the presence didn’t stay by the door, waiting for an invite. Instead, it snuck closer to him on light feet making little to no noise, although it was clear, that the presence wasn’t trying to be stealthy; just trying not to disturb his work.

He had sensed her, but knew she wasn’t trying to be mischievous. So, he largely ignored her, until she gently placed her chin on his shoulder looking at his desk.

He stopped writing for a moment and when he glanced at her from the corner of his eye, he found her looking back at him. Having eyecontact for a few seconds, before hers darted back to his work. He took a moment to keep looking at her before returning his own eyes and picked up where he left of.

He felt content for a few minutes, having her close, a surprising warmth and soothing feeling flowing through him at her close proximity – he could definitely see this as a nightly ritual; him finishing the days work, her waiting for him, getting ready for the night where he would get to hold her close in their bed, in their quarters. But he had already decided that he would rather keep her friendship than risk losing her entirely if she didn’t feel the same.

Dividing his attention between his work, his sour thoughts and the wonderful feeling of her at his back and her head on his shoulder, he was caught in a rare off-guard moment when she suddenly lifted her head, leaned further over his shoulder, twisted her neck and head enough so she could catch his lips in a – in his opinion too short and slightly confusing – rushed peck, that only if one was being very generous, could be called a kiss.

When she retreated from his face enough for him to look at her, she had developed a rather fetching pink blush on her cheeks, that turned a darker shade the longer they spent staring at each other.

At this point he was quite sure that he himself wasn’t immune to blushing if the heat he felt in his own cheeks was any indication.

She however, seemed to come to her senses again as she started opening her mouth.

“I-I’m… I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Marco, I didn’t… uhm… I mean, I meant to, but… I didn’t know if you would be okay with… it…”, she finished with a whisper and biting her lower lip as her nervous rambling came to a halt.

When in his shock he still hadn’t said or done anything but sit entirely still for a moment, she retreated completely from him and started turning towards the door, clearly embarrassed of her behavior.

Watching her turn away, kickstarted his previously idle cognitive functions and he practically jumped from his chair towards her, catching her wrist gently but firmly in his hand.

She stopped and turned slightly to face him, her face red, eyes watching him warily and lips slightly apart. He stared at her lips for a second, brought his free hand slowly up to the side of her neck to gauge her reaction. When she didn’t recoil, but allowed his touch he slowly carded his fingers through the soft hair at the back of her head, slightly manipulating her head, so it was at an upwards angle, facing his own. The hand on her wrist let go in favor of going around her waist, holding her close but not caging her.

When he had her exactly where he wanted her, and she had yet to voice any discomfort or give any indication that she either wanted or didn’t want this, he traced his thumb over her cheek hoping to elicit some sort of permission from her, to properly kiss her.

She blinked, and turned fully to him. She slowly raised her hands, letting them first rest on his hips, then she slid them lightly up his torso, over his shoulders where one rested across his shoulders and the other found its way to the back of his head. While she did, he had closed his eyes to bask in the feeling of her hands on his body. He had wanted this and hadn’t dared to think it could ever happen. But here she was, in his arms, and… _waiting for him to kiss her?_

He lowered his face to hers slowly, giving her enough time to back away when the somewhat shy behavior she had just displayed evaporated in apparent impatience.

She closed the rest of the distance, pulling at the back of his head down to her and met his lips again, only this time it was a proper kiss.

His initial thought was quickly forgotten when he felt her lips; soft and pliable against his own and stars, if he could have this everyday… Even if she changed her mind and he only ever got this one moment, it would have been worth it. But he silently swore to himself, that he would fight for this, that he would do almost anything to have her by his side, to keep this. He was a pirate after all; fighting for and to keep his treasure was part of the territory.

Marco couldn’t help smiling into the kiss when he felt her stand up on the tips of her toes to try to make up for the difference in height while her hand on the back of his head slid into his hair. His arm around her waist pressed her closer to him, the hand in her hair continued its way further into it as the kiss grew deeper.

Even if he would have gladly passed out from lack of oxygen from kissing her, she was of a different mindset. She started to part from his lips, hers were beautifully swollen and red from not just the kiss but also from his slight stubble.

He’d have to apologize and make it up to her later.

Preferably with some more kisses.

Meanwhile he would appreciate every single moment he could just hold her like this and look at her. While she attempted to catch her breath, her hands slid to each side of his face and she flashed him the biggest, happiest smile he had ever seen grace her beautiful face and he couldn’t help the answering smile breaking out on his own.

He pressed his forehead against hers, closing his eyes and took the moment in.

They were going to be alright.


End file.
